Whilst youth services have been cut by 77% over more than a decade, violent offences among young people remain at unacceptably high levels warn the National Youth Agency (NYA), in its latest report, The social cost of youth work cuts: Preventing youth offending through youth work, published at the start of Youth Work Week, from 6 -12 November. Despite these startling figures, it costs four times more for a young person to enter the criminal justice system (£200,000 by the age of 16), than it does for them to avoid it through youth work provision (less than £50,000). (1)

The social cost of youth work report provides an analysis of 74 sources of academic literature and research evidence relating to the impact of youth work on young people in contact with the youth justice system. The report shows a clear association between reduced funding for youth provision and an increase in crime rates for some young people. 

Despite this, open access youth service expenditure has been disproportionately affected by austerity cuts. Furthermore, young people themselves are crying out for safe spaces with 24% of young respondents to a recent survey by the youth charity OnSide, reporting that they do not have a safe space to go to where they feel they belong. (2)

Whilst convictions have fallen by a third, for every 1,000 children in the population, 4.6 are still in the youth justice system, and their needs are becoming increasingly complex in the wake of the pandemic, as mental health rates soar and amid a cost-of-living crisis. (3)

Meanwhile, youth work saves £500 million on public spending through crime reduction alone and social return on investment research reveals that £1 investment in youth work is estimated to return £3.20 – £6.40 of value. (4)

The report cites the 2020 All-Party Parliamentary Group for Knife Crime focused on the impact of youth centre closures across the country, which revealed that each reduction in the number of youth centres corresponded to an increase in knife crime. This trend is echoed in a PhD study, completed earlier this year, which reviewed London youth centre provision published in 2023 by Carmen Villa-Llera, in the Economics Observatory at the University of Warwick. The research found that crime participation amongst 10-15 year olds increased by 10% in those London boroughs affected most by youth centre closures between 2010-2019. Furthermore, young people in these areas are 12% more likely to be suspended from school since the reduction in youth provision. (5)

Examples of where youth work is having a positive impact on youth crime rates, include the Linx Youth Project, Middlesbrough, which saw a significant reduction in crime amongst young people as a result of youth workers delivering support in the community (detached youth work), with the number of first-time entrants to youth justice decreasing by 79% over a four year period from 2016 to 2020. Furthermore, the project evaluation found that the social impact value for the service is £5.50 for every £1 invested. (6)

Meanwhile a Redthread youth work team working in the Emergency Department at St Mary’s hospital has brought about a 59% reduction in young people’s involvement with violence, and 37% reduction in involvement with crime, as a direct result of their engagement with a youth worker in the hospital.  (7)

The launch of The social cost of youth work cuts report from National Youth Agency coincides with their annual Youth Work Week national campaign, which this year is focussing on the added value that youth workers bring to the outcomes of young people through providing their particular support in a range of contexts and professional settings.